The Ghost of the Night
by Dancingvictoria
Summary: Lily Luna Potter was doing her normal Head Girl rounds one night in the Slytherin dungeons when she meets an unexpected visiter. ONE SHOT


Even though she'd been living at Hogwarts for seven years, the Dark and musty smell of the Slytherin dungeons would be something that Lily Luna Potter never would become accustomed to. Of course, times were different and those placed in Slytherin were highly admired for their cunning schemes and pranks. However the Head Girl had to admit that the living quarters that the Slytherins lived in were inadequate and, well, for lack of a better term, really scary. Whenever Lily had the misfortune of having to go to the dungeons, goosebumps rose all over her body and her cloak and shoes ended up soaked from the old plumbing. The dungeons hardly had any source of light except for the dimly lit lanterns that hung on the wall. Lily tried to stay away from the dungeons as much as possible, which was _impossible_ when you're Head Girl on patrol duty. To make matters worse Marcus Bones, the Head Boy, was nowhere to be seen. Marcus would usually be patrolling with her, especially since he was a Slytherin who knew his way around the dungeon corridors, but today he decided that going to the kitchens would be a better idea than doing his job. He did that a lot, much to Lily's dismay.

One night, after about the fifth time tripping over a stone that she couldn't see, Lily decided that she was done with the dungeons. Shivering, she did a quick sweep over the corridor and noted that all the students were in bed, as they should be at one in the morning, and splashed her way out of the flooded Slytherin dungeons as quickly as she could. When she made her final turn toward the stairs, she heard a loud _bang! _behind her and turned around. At the end of the corridor, Lily saw a figure— it was tall and lanky from what she could see in the shadows. She took out her wand from inside her cloak

"Hello?" she called and the figure turned toward her. "Reveal yourself!"

"Ginny?" the voice laughed. "What are you talking about?"

Lily gasped and held out her wand and casted a _Lumos _spell, "I'm n-not going to ask you again! Come into the light and tell me who you are!"

In response, the figure moved forward soundlessly into the light. What Lily saw nearly made her drop her wand. It was...well, it was a much younger version of her Uncle George Weasley, except with two ears. He looked young, as though he had just gotten out of adolescence because there were acne scars still dotted over his freckled face. His hair was flaming red, just like her own. Why, if Lily hadn't known better, she'd say that he was Uncle George's twin, which was impossible because Lily had never met him. However, he seemed familiar though she didn't understand why...

"Who are you? And why did you call me Ginny?" she finally asked. Her heart was pounding and despite being the Head Girl, Lily's mind was at a blank for any spells to cast (thank Merlin she wasn't training to be an Auror).

The man tilted his head in confusion, "Ginny, it's me, Fred! Fred Weasley, surely you know this, after all you've been living with me your whole life!" He laughed wholeheartedly and slapped his knee as though he had made the funniest joke in the world. But still, Lily had no idea who this 'Fred' was and she was trying to figure out a good spell in case he attacked. She was still confused, however, why he was calling her Ginny and she definitely did not find his joke funny.

"I am not Ginny," she said slowly. "My name is Lily Luna Potter. If you are looking for Ginevra Potter, she is my mother..." Lily stopped speaking when she realized that Fred was no longer smiling. He looked so confused it almost broke her heart.

"Y-you're not Ginny?" he frowned and turned away from her, mumbling "You look just like her. Oh, I've seen you around her before with some boy and I just, well, I just assumed that you were my sister. You two look so alike, i-it's crazy!" He quickly spun around and tried to grab Lily's arms, a crazy look in his emerald eyes. However, as he tried to grab Lily, his hand slipped through her skin and it felt as though icicles had formed in Lily's blood. Fred froze in fear and stared at his hands in bewilderment.

"You're a ghost!" she gasped and clutched her arms tightly beneath her cloak. Frightened, Lily backed away from him and tripped over yet another cobblestone. Lily fell on her arse and began to yell out for help. The ghost broke his gaze away from his hands and ran over to Lily, kneeling down in front of her. He tried to quiet her down, which made her even more scared.

"Please," he begged over her screams, "Please be quiet and help me." His voice cracked on the last word and tears started to form in his ghostly green eyes. Lily stopped screaming; she'd never seen a ghost cry before. She brought herself to her knees, which made her eye level with Fred. Calmly, while still clutching her wand beneath her cloak, she asked him, "What year is it?"

Fred looked alarmed that she would ask such a question but he answered that it was May 2, 1998. Lily's heart dropped and she pitied the poor boy. Though it was May second, it was not the year 1998. That had been the day of the Great Hogwarts Battle, which had been nearly thirty years ago. When Lily told Fred this, ghostly tears actually did fall this time.

"M-my brother? Is he alright?" he asked tearily. "Please tell me that George is alright!"

Lily smiled warmly, "Uncle George is doing perfectly fine. He's married, you know, and has the best cousins that I could've asked for. Their names are Fred, which I guess makes a little sense now, and Roxanne, who just graduated last year. Uncle George owns this big candy corporate that's swept the globe, though mum's only taken me to the store once or twice. She claims that candy will 'rot my teeth.' " She went on and on, explaining all that she knew had happened with her family. The longer Lily spoke, the more Fred's tension seemed to ease.

"And…well, that's all that I know," Lily finished. "I wish I could do more to help but I-"

"No, no!" Fred cut off. "Thank you, Lily. Thank you for everything. I…I guess I thought I had more time." He hesitated and started to play with her shirt, as if he were holding off on saying something. Lily reached out to hold his hand, but her hand went through him again. He looked up at her in confusion.

"I…well, do you have anything that you'd like to say? I can owl Uncle George. Oh, he'd be delighted!" Lily had never been one to make good conversation however Fred seemed delighted.

"Oh, why yes, I'd like you to tell George that-"

Suddenly, from the end of the hallway, Lily heard footsteps and Fred stopped speaking. Lily spun on her heels and there was Marcus Bones with an armful of sweets from the kitchen. Lily's face flushed and she angrily stood to walk over to the Head Boy. "How DARE you leave me alone in the Slytherin dungeons by myself while you went off to get PASTRIES from the kitchen, Marcus Bones!"

"I'm sorry Lily! A man's gotta eat!"

"Eat during meals and NOT during Head duties. Why, I ought to tell McGonagall about this. I am fed up with this, you hear me? Not only do you completely skip rounds but you interrupt F-". She gasped and shut her mouth. Lily had said too much. Quickly she turned around, but all signs of Fred was gone. She felt tears well up in her eyes for she had never felt as hopeless as she did right now. Fred had once been family and he had to say something…until bloody Marcus Bones interrupted him.

"…Earth to Lily?" Marcus was waving a muffin in front of Lily's face and he looked concerned.

"Huh?" she replied intelligently.

"Rounds have been over since I went to the kitchen, hon. I don't know how you got down here, but I'm gonna walk you up to your dorm. You look exhausted." He shoved the muffin into Lily's arms and grabbed her hand. By the time they reached the Head Girl dorm Lily was leaning on Marcus's shoulder, exhausted. She muttered a tired thank you before going inside.

Outside her dorm, Marcus Bones sighed and headed off to his own room. He walked right through Fred Weasley, who had been watching over them. Marcus shivered and looked back, but did not see anybody. With a sad realization, Fred realized that Lily was the only Weasley left at Hogwarts and that she would not remember him in the morning. There was, well, there was no reason for him to stay. Maybe one day he'd see his family again, but now it was time to move on.

THE END

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Hey everybody! Thanks for reading! This is the first Harry Potter fan fiction that I've written and I really hope that you liked it! It's kind of short but I just couldn't wait any longer.

Again, thanks for reading! Comment, please! Tell me what you thought of it :)

-Vikki


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